Norms
Normative-Based Testing Options
and Procedures
ELL Testing
CONCEPTS TO CONSIDER
2004 IDEA Regs.
• Eligibility team should…
– “Draw upon information from a variety of sources,
including aptitude and achievement tests, parent
input, and teacher recommendations, as well as
information about the child's physical condition, social
or cultural background, and adaptive behavior”
Assessment Balance
Observation
Testing
Background Review
Factors To Consider In
Assessment
• Current grade of the student?
• Current and previous types of educational
programs?
• Students language proficiency in both L1 and L2
(and L3 if applicable)?
• Was child appropriately placed (or not) as in an
ELL program?
Review Data in School
Records
• What is family history/ background?
– Need to get information from the family
• What is child’s educational background?
• Has the child progressed while in the U.S.
academically?
– How did he/she do before arriving in U.S.
• What might have been overlooked by the referral
team?
Evaluation Procedures
• Measure the need for SPED services not the need for
bilingual education services.
• Psychologists conduct informal and formal language
assessments and differentiate between a language
disorder from second language acquisition.
• Must evaluate if the primary cause meets one of the
exclusionary clauses (not just check the boxes)
• Choose the appropriate modality to test (formal/
informal; L1/L2/ Nonverbal/ Bilingual)
Bilingual Assessment
• Is not in L1 or L2 but in
both languages
simultaneously
• Requires knowledge of
– Examinee’s Culture
– Non discriminatory
assessment
– Fluency in L1 and L2
MAMBI
• MAMBI = Multidimensional assessment model for
bilingual individuals
• This model Guides choices of assessments looking at all
factors of consideration.
• Developed by Rhodes, Ochoa, & Ortiz (2005).
Language Profiles
Profile L1 Proficiency
L2 Proficiency
Description
1
Minimal
Minimal
CALP L1 = 1-2 and CALP L2 = 1-2
2
Emergent
Minimal
CALP L1 = 3 and CALP L2 = 1-2
3
Fluent
Minimal
CALP L1 = 4-5 and CALP L2 = 1-2
4
Minimal
Emergent
CALP L1 = 1-2 and CALP L2 = 3
5
Emergent
Emergent
CALP L1 = 3 and CALP L2 = 3
6
Fluent
Emergent
CALP L1 = 4-5 and CALP L2 = 3
7
Minimal
Fluent
CALP L1 = 1-2 and CALP L2 = 4-5
8
Emergent
Fluent
CALP L1 = 3 and CALP L2 = 4-5
9
Fluent
Fluent
CALP L1 = 4-5 and CALP L2 = 4-5
MAMBI
ESOL/ ESL Services Only
Grades: K-4
Language
Profile
NV
L1
1: L1 = 1/ L2 = 1

2: L1 =3 / L2 = 1

4: L1 = 1/ L2 = 3

5: L1 = 3/ L2 = 3

9: L1 = 5/ L2 = 5
BL
NV
L1











3: L1 = 5 /L2 = 1
6: L1 = 1/ L2 = 5
L2
Grades: 5-7




L2










= Priority Testing Modality Providing the Most Sound Data
 = Secondary Mode Providing Some Additional Information of Use
BL
Psychoeducational
Assessment Issues
 Examine individual referrals w/in the context of the systemic
patterns of how diverse students are treated at that school.
 Acknowledge the impact of second language/culture acquisition
on the cognitive and socio-emotional development
 Select and administer tests so as to not discriminate on racial or
cultural bias.
 Understand the limitations and pitfalls associated with the
prescribed use of standardized instruments not normed or
validated with the population being served.
 Able to adapt existing assessment tools when necessary and
report any deviations from standardization.
ELLL
PSYCHOMETRIC ISSUES
2004 IDEA regs. . .
• Assessments should be …
– “selected and administered so as not to be discriminatory on a
racial or cultural basis
– provided and administered in the child's native language or
other mode of communication and in the form most likely to
yield
– used for the purposes for which the assessments or measures
are valid and reliable
– administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel”
Validity and Tests
“When a child’s general background experiences differ
from those of the children on whom a test was
standardized, then the use of the norms of that test as
an index for evaluation that child’s current performance
or for predicting future performances may be
inappropriate” (Salvia and Ysseldke, 1991).
Test bias . . .
• Test bias: when one group systematically performs
differently from another group on an instrument.
• Early test developers felt that the reason that certain
culturally groups did worse on certain tests was due to
deficits in the cultural group and not problems with the
tests.
• Test bias relates more to the validity of a test’s scores
and not the reliability of the scores.
• Test is “culturally loaded” test contains culturally specific
elements and expects a certain level of acculturation to
do well.
Bias in testing stems
from…
•
•
•
•
Cultural content embedded in the test
Linguistic demands inherent in any give test
Lack of representation within norm samples
Changing normative standards to accommodate
perceived language needs (translating the test)
• Changing normative standards resulting in a change
within the developmental nature of the tests (items go
from easier to harder)
Developmental Nature of
Test Items
• Test are Developmental/ incremental (easy to Hard)
– Learning English may have begun at a different developmental
point for ELL.
– Students may juggle knowledge b/w L1 and L2 instead of being
able to know just one language well.
– Students may have received fewer overall hours of exposure to
English language than native English speaker.
• Example:
English
Car
Their
-------------------------------------
Spanish
Coche
Su
Verbal/Nonverbal Bias
• Bias in nonverbal tests may occur if the instructions are
in English only
• Nonverbal tests not normed using stratified
acculturation and Language are still biased.
• Bias in many tests are revealed more in the verbal tasks
than in the nonverbal ones.
– May be due to learning styles of demonstration, sample, doing
instead of Socratic method
– May be due to L1 and L2 differences
Normative Stratification
• Stratification in the norm
using race does not
equate to stratification
based on culture.
• There are currently no
tests that stratify based
on acculturation.
• There are currently no
tests that stratify based
on amount of time
exposed to English.
Test Validity
• If a test is biased, whatever the reason, you may be
testing something other than the construct that you
want to examine.
• IQ and Achievement tests should measure IQ and
Achievement and NOT English Language proficiency!!!
Culture-Language Interpretive
Matrix (C-LIM)
Low
Low
Mod.
High
Performance
Least
Affected
Increasing
effect of
Language Diff.
Increasing
Effect of
Cultural
Diff.
Performance
Most Affected
(lang. and
Culture)
Mod
High
Kranzler, Flores, & Kody, 2010: Although it makes sense to do it this way
current research does not exactly support it. More research is needed.
Normative Assessments
COGNITIVE
IQ and Culture
• Scarr (1978): “intelligence tests are not tests of
intelligence in some abstract, culture-free way.
They are measures of the ability to function
intellectually by virtue of knowledge and skills in
the culture of which they sample.”
• Sample here may be the normative sample;
however it may also be the items chosen to be
administered as well.
1996: Most common Tests
for Bilinguals
•
•
•
•
WISC (mostly done in all English)
Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt
Draw-a-Person
Leiter
Nonverbal Assessment
• Conducted PRIMARILY nonverbally
–
–
–
–
–
–
UNIT
Leiter-R
C-TONI
Nonverbal DAS-2
Nonverbal SB-5
Nonverbal KABC-2
• May still require some minimal amount of knowledge
using receptive language.
Native Language
Assessment
• Most non-English Normative measures are in Spanish
only.
• Normative Examples Include:
– Batería-III – Spanish Version
– WISC-IV: Spanish Version
– DIAL-3 (has a small cognitive component)
• CBM: DIBELS has a Spanish Version
Bilingual Assessment
• Child can Receive Points for answers in EACH
language
• Examples Include:
– BVAT
– Some subtests on the KABC-II
Culture-Language Interpretive
Matrix (C-LIM)
Low
Low
Mod.
High
Performance
Least
Affected
Increasing
effect of
Language Diff.
Increasing
Effect of
Cultural
Diff.
Performance
Most Affected
(lang. and
Culture)
Mod
High
Kranzler, Flores, & Kody, 2010: Although it makes sense to do it this way
current research does not exactly support it. More research is needed.
Normative Assessments
ACHIEVEMENT
Normative-based
Achievement Assumptions
• Student is like the normative sample.
• Student has had opportunity to learn
– Content measured
– Language used by the test
– Skills demanded of the test
• Test is measuring ability and not experience
Native Language
Achievement
• Most non-English Normative measures are in Spanish
only.
• Normative Examples Include:
–
–
–
–
–
Batería-III
Bracken Basic Concept Scale: Spanish Version
PPVT/TVIP
YCAT/PHAI
DIAL-3 (more of a screener)
• CBM: DIBELS has a Spanish Version
Bilingual Assessment
Achievement
• Child can Receive Points for answers in EACH
language
• Examples Include:
– ROWPVT-SBE
– EOWPVT-SBE
Nonverbal Achievement
• There are no strictly non-verbal achievement
tests.
• Many times the math computation subtests are
so similar from one language to another as to be
almost nonverbal.
Non-English and Non-Spanish
Achievement Assessment
• Normative assessment in achievement is pretty
much not possible.
• Informal methods or CBM methods should be
utilized in combination with parent/ teacher
interviews, class observations, and child
interviews.
Native Language
Social/ Emotional/Adaptive
• Most non-English Normative measures are Spanish
translations only.
• Normative Examples Include:
–
–
–
–
BASC- Spanish Translation
Vineland- Spanish Translation
Conners- Spanish Translation
Beck Depression Inventory – Spanish Translation
• These tests are only translated into Spanish. They do not
include normative data for this population.
ELL Normative Testing
FACTS TO REVIEW
Standards for Testing Individuals of
Diverse Language Backgrounds
• Testing practice designed to reduce threats to
reliability and validity.
• Language proficiency should be determined prior
to test administration.
• Language proficiency should be evaluated across
different language tasks.
• Any linguistic modifications recommended by test
publishers should be in the test manual
Standards for Testing Individuals of
Diverse Language Backgrounds
• When a test is recommended for this population, then
developers should provide the info needed for test use
and interpretation.
• When translating a test, describe methods used in
establishing the adequacy of the translation and evidence
for reliability and validity data for the translated test’s
scores.
• When an interpreter is used in testing, the interpreter
should be fluent in both languages, should have expertise
in translating, and should have a basic understanding of
the assessment process.